Gyroscopic toy



No. 609,332. Patented Aug. l6, I898. F. H. DONALDSON, E. H. OWEN &. c.H. WILLIAMS.

' GYROSCGPIC TOY.

(:No Model.)

llnrrnn STATES PATENT FFICE.

FRED H. DONALDSON, EDWARD I-I. QWEN,AND CHARLES N. WVILLIAMS, OFGARVANZA, CALIFORNIA.

GYROSCOPIC TOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,332, dated August16, 1898. Application filed August 19, 18 9 7- Sorial No. 648,795. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRED H. DONALDSON, EDWARD H. OWEN, and CHARLEsN.WIL- LIAMS, citizens of the United States, residing at Garvanza, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Gyroscopic Toys, of which the following is aspecification.

The chief object of our present invention is to provide an amusinggyroscopio toy which possesses such characteristic features ofconstruction that if a part thereof which is susceptible of turning bewhirled or swiftly rotated in a part which rests upona comparativelysmooth surface the toy as a Whole will be balanced and with a tremulousmotion traverse or slide more or less rapidly along or about the smoothsurface on which it rests.

To accomplish this object, our invention consists, essentially, in aframe having spindle-bearings and a base or foot-piece constructed torest upon and traverse the surface of a support, a spindle journaled onsaid bearings in a manner to be true with respect to one and eccentricwith respect to the other, and a weighted body fixed on' the spindle ator near one end thereof and of which the center of gravity is eccentricto the axis of rotation by virtue of said eccentric hearing.

The invention also involves the features of construction,the combinationor arrangement of parts, and the principles of operation hereinafterdescribed, and pointed outby the claims, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings, in which 1 Figure 1 is a perspective view ofour'improved gyroscopic toy, showing its" position while in operation.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is adetail sectional view, on'alarger scale, to more clearly illustrate theeccentric mounting of one endof the spindle. Fig.4 is a perspective viewshowing a modification. of the invention, and Fig. 5 is a longitudinalcentralsectional view of the modified construction. a j y i In order ,toenable those skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we willnow describe the same in detail, referring to the drawings,'wherein 1'The numeral 1 indicates aframe composed of a narrow rectangular strip ofmetal or other material and having its ends provided withspindle-supporting arms or members 2 and 3, which are of differentlengths and are provided with pivot-pins 4t and 5, having conical in herends6 and 7, fitted into pivot-bearings Sand 9 inthe ends of a spindle10. The

. spindle is provided at or near the end which is supported by thepivot-pin 4 with a comparatively heavy body 12, which is preferably adisk or wheel of lead or any other metal or material sufficiently heavyfor the purpose in hand. The spindleis also provided with an orifice 13,through which one end of a cord or string may be passed for the purposeof winding the cord or string upon the spindle, so that the latter andthe disk or wheel can be Whirled or swiftly rotated by pulling thestring. The frame is provided-" at or near the end having the long armormember 2 with a transverse flattened foot-piece or shoe 14, whichconstitutes a base and projects a short distancelfrom each side of thetoy-frame. to support the same in an upright position and assist the toyin sliding orm'oving on-thecomparatively smooth surface by whichit issup portedwhen in operation. 1 The pivot-bearing 9 at the endof thespindle farthest from the disk or wheel is slightly eccentric to thegeometrical axis of the disk or wheel, the result being that when thespindle and the disk or wheel are whirled or swiftly rotated rapidvibrations are set up, by which means, if the base or foot-piece restson a comparatively smooth surface. while the spindle and the disk orwheel are swiftly rotated, the toy as a whole will traverse or slidewith a tremulous motion on the foot-piece or shoe'along or about .thesmooth surface, the s'peedof motion being in proportion to the speed ofrotation of the spindle and the wheel. The swifter the motion ofthe'spindle and the wheel the swifter will be the traversing or slidingmotion of the toy along or about the smoothsurfacebn which it rests. Theexact causes which produce the traversing orsliding motions of the toyare not easilyexplained with precisionfb'ut theoreticallythe motions aredue to the arrangement of the spindle, the eccentric mounting of one endthereof,

and the comparatively heavy'body or wheel, whereby the rapid vibrationsaffect the supporting foot-piece or shoe rather than the disk or wheel,owing to the latter being much the heavier, thus imparting impulses tothe footpiece or shoe, which cause the toy to traverse or slide upon thesmooth surface in the manner before explained. In addition to this thetoy will also describe curves or move in a circular path on the smoothsurface.

The motion of the disk or wheel whirling or swiftly rotating on ahorizontal axis prevents the toy tipping backward or forward when inoperation, while the foot-piece or shoe prevents it from tippinglaterally.

The toy described and shown is novel, simple, and economical and affordsthe source of much amusement, due to the curious and, we may say, theinexplicable manner in which it slides or walks about while thespindleand the wheel are whirling.

In the modified construction illustrated by Figs. 4 and 5 the frame istriangular shaped and comprises the arms or members 15,16, and 17. Thecomically-pointed pivot-pins 18 and 19 support the spindle 20, with itsdisk or wheel 21, in substantially the same manner as described withreference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The arm or member 15 is provided with afoot-piece or shoe 22, substantially the same as the foot-piece or shoe14. It is unnecessary to specifically describe the operation of themodified construction, as it is essentially the same as that describedwith reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

The pivot-pins by which the spindle is rotatably mounted are preferablyin the form of screws, having lock-nuts 23 and 24, so that after thepivot-pins have been exactly adjust-ed they may be locked in theiradjusted position, as will be obvious.

The eccentricity of the hearing at the end of the spindle farthest fromthe disk or wheel, though slight and not at once apparent to the eye, isimportant for the purpose in hand in that it produces the tremulous orvibratory motionsof the foot-piece and frame by which the peculiarbehavior set forth is obtained. Ve do not, however, confine ourselves tothis precise eccentric mounting of the spindle.

Having thus describedour invention, what We claim is- I 1. A gyroscopictoy, consisting of a frame, having spindle-bearings and a base orfootpiece constructed to rest upon and traverse the surface of asupport, a spindle journaled on said bearings in a manner to be truewith respect to one and eccentric with respect to the other, and aweighted body fixed on the spindle at or near one end thereof and ofwhich the center of gravity is eccentric to the axis of rotation byvirtue of said eccentric bearing, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

2. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame having at its ends arms ormembers provided with spindle-bearings, a spindle journaled on saidbearings in a manner to be true with respect to one and eccentric withrespect to the other, a weighted body fixed on the spindle and of whichthe center of gravity is eccentric to the axis of rotation by virtue ofsaid eccentric bearing, a transverse foot-piece or shoe secured to theframe for holding the latter upright when in motion, and means .forwhirling the spindle and the weighted body, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

3. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame having a base or foot-pieceto rest upon and traverse the surface of a support, spindlebearingscarried by the frame, a spindle j ournaled on said bearings in a mannerto be true with respect to one and eccentric with respect to the other,a weighted disk or wheel fixed on the spindle and of which the center ofgravity is eccentric to the axis of rotation by virtue of said eccentricbearing, and means for whirling the spindle and weighted disk or wheel,substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame having two spindle-bearingsand a transverse foot-piece or shoe projecting from its opposite sidesto sustain the frame upright while in motion, a spindle journaled onsaid bearings in a manner to be true with respect to one and eccentricwith respect to the other, a weighted body fixed on the spindle and ofwhich the center of gravity is eccentric to the axis of rotation byvirtue of said eccentric bearing, and means whereby the spindle andv theweighted body may be whirled, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

5. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame, carrying a rotatable,eccentrically-mounted wheeled spindle and constructed to rest upon andtraverse a smooth-surfaced support when the wheeled spindle is whirled,substantially as and for the purposes described.

6. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame, and a rotatable spindlehaving an attached weighted body and eccen'trically mounted at one endwith relation to the axis of the Weighted body, substantially as and forthe purposes described. 7

7. A gyroscopic toy, consisting of a frame carrying a rotatable spindleeccentrically IIC mounted at one end and having an attached weighteddisk, or, wheel, and a foot-piece or shoe constructed to rest upon andtraverse a smooth-surfaced support when the spindle and the disk, orwheel are whirled, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

FRED H. DONALDSON. EDWARD H. OWEN. CHARLES N. WVILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM M. VAN DYKE,

I-IARFIELD T. CHRISTIAN.

